This is a review of our Fantasy Western cruise 1/4-1/11/2014. We are a family of 4, with two boys ages 9 and 4. We have previously sailed on the Carnival Dream (Eastern, January 2012), and Allure of the Seas (July 2013). Because our Allure of the Seas experience was only 6 months prior to our Fantasy sailing, I was very eager to compare the newest/largest Royal Caribbean (RCCL) ship with Disney’s newest and largest ship. I will comment on that throughout the review.
EMBARKATION
We embarked on 1/4/14. The weather was absolutely freezing in Orlando the day before but embarkation day was not terrible. Too cold for most adults but many kids were enjoying the pool that afternoon and sail away was fine. The announcement of the family when boarding is nice, definitely makes you feel special. Staff were very welcoming and nothing but helpful throughout the cruise.
We had a Category 7A (basically a 5A with an obstructed view verandah), Cabin 9652. We got this cabin for about $700 less than the cheapest Category 5 room. The verandah obstruction was not a big deal at all - barely noticeable (high, on the right side). Your view was only obstructed if you were standing on the very far right of the balcony. This cabin was a real bargain and I would absolutely book another 7A on the Fantasy. As for location, I would choose a different cabin because this cabin door actually opened up to the aft stairs and while that was convenient, it was very loud and you did not have as much privacy when opening your door. There also was a MidShip detective agency location right outside the cabin door so lots of foot traffic and noise there until late into the evening. But we did love being 2 flights directly down from Cabanas. Every morning we just ran up there and got food and brought it back to the cabin. Much easier than worrying about finding a table during morning rush. As most people know, the Disney cabins are larger than RCCL cabins and are set up with the split bathroom that better accommodates a family of 4. There is a curtain to partition the King bed from the rest of the room, which was nice. Our older son slept in the pullman bed and the 4 year old slept on the couch bed. Overall the room was adequate for us. It would have been nice to have the larger Cat. 4 with slightly more storage and space, but I’m not sure it is worth much extra money unless you have 5 people.